Day 12 - THE END
Leaving the world is not easy. The morning we left I think I sank into a
depression. Knowing I was headed back to my job and the daily routine
wasn't something I was very excited about but it was inevitable. Our flight
didn't leave till 12:45pm and we were up around 7:30am so we have some time
to kill. The funnest thing we did that morning was to try and finish off
the leftover food we had. We didn't want the bacon to go to waste so we
HAD to finish it, as well as the eggs and bread and whatever else we had.
Katelyn won the eating contest.
After filling our faces Kelly went on a cleaning blitz. She didn't want
the housekeeper to have alot of work to do so she cleaned everything and
ran the dishwasher.
We started hauling our luggage to the vehicle so when the time came to
leave we would be ready. As I was pulling the suitcases up the sidewalk
there was a Magical Express bus come in and I felt absolute distain for the
people on it. Here we are finishing this amazing vacation and these people
would just be starting theirs.
I figured out there are five stages of leaving Disney and they are:
1-Denial-"this can't be happening to me, it feels like i just got here, the
trip can't possible be over!!!"
2-Anger-"why me? how can we be leaving and there are people that are just
starting their trip....damn them!!!"
3-Bargaining- "I will work for Turkey legs, i will juggle on the boardwalk,
I will clean up after Pluto.....ANYTHING!!!! I just don't want to
leave!!!"
4-Depression - "life's so unfair...one day your at Disney and the next your
back to your daily grind, why can't my whole life be Disneyesque?"
5-Acceptance-"well there's nothing I can do, I have to go home and get back
to my life, we had a great run but now it's over......BUT I WILL BE
BACK!!!!!"
As we were pulling out of the Boardwalk parking lot for the last time all
that was in my head was that Green day song...
"So take the photographs, and still frames in your mind
Hang it on a shelf in good health and good time
Tattoos of memories and dead skin on trial
For what it's worth it was worth all the while
It's something unpredictable, but in the end it's right.
I hope you had the time of your life."
We stopped at the Hess station right out front of Boardwalk and I'm glad I
did as I didn't see another gas station before the airport and I needed to
return the van full or pay a ridiculous $6 a gallon charge.
Orlando could really hose tourists when they leave if they wanted by
putting in a $100 toll on the way back to the airport, what choice would
you have but to pay it.
We missed the exit for the airport and had to go quite a bit further down
the road and pay a couple of extra tolls i didn't want to but o'well.
We finally made it to the airport and the car rental return is very quick
and painless, you pull up, they scan the vehicle's barcode thats on the
dash and they check the gas and they print our your receipt and your on
your way, 30 seconds tops....
Our flight was uneventful and this plane was bigger than the one coming
down so lots more leg room and comfier seats. We were in a somber mood on
the way back which is to be expected when leaving Disney. After departing
the plane and walking past the next group of people waiting for the flight
I hear "Smile, your in Buffalo" yippee
We took shuttle back to hotel and loaded up van and stopped at Krispy
Kreme's because Canada is lacking in the Krispy Kreme department. The Tim
Horton's juggernaut won't allow for other donut chains to succeed in this
country.
We stopped at the duty free shop (I like to stop at the duty free shop) and loaded up on beer and liquor and
crossed the border back to gool ole Canada...our moods changed when we hit
our own soil, we were now excited to get home to see our cat and sleep in
our own bed.
I wanted to not stop and make it all the way home because i wanted to see
if I could make it all the way home on the same tank of gas I started with at home at the beginning of my trip. When we saw a Wendy's though Kate practically yanked the wheel to stop so she could get her fix.
We made it home around 8pm Sunday night March 12th and our cat let loose on us with non stop meowing all night long.
The feeling was almost surreal being home, it felt like the whole Disney trip was just a dream. The longing to go back to Disney kicked in immediately after we came through our door, I so wanted to call Gil at Saratoga and dive into becoming a DVC member but then I realized at this stage in my life it would be foolish.
Most of my friends have never been to Disney and don't understand the sheer magnitude of this magical place. How do you explain Disney to someone that's never been? It's not just a place but more a feeling you have inside of you. I've never felt like I did when I was at Disney. It is purely magical. I'm sorry that I didn't make this post very funny but on this day coming home I didn't find myself very funny, and there wasn't any escalators to get caught in.
Prior to this trip it was a tough decision whether or not to get the meal plan but let me tell you now I am so glad we didn't. We were so busy everyday that to sit down for a large meal over and over would have felt like a chore to eat. If doing your trip commando style I would say just grab some grub on the run and maybe have one or two sit down Disney meals.
Also for those people that are going soon, I say skip Universal Studios but definately do Islands of Adventure if you have tweens with you, if you have little kids skip Islands of Adventure. Do not miss Seaworld, Seaworld was probably my second favorite park of all right behind Epcot.
Accept the fact that your kids will b in every picture you take no matter what, kids love their picture taken and there isn't any getting around in, even if your just playing around and try to take a picture of yourself your kid will sneak their face in there somehow....Katelyn did anyway.
If you get a place with a kitchenette get lots of breakfast stuff but don't forget the little things like salt and pepper.
Also buy a couple of cases of water and leave a bunch of bottles in the freezer so you have cold water the first part of your day at the parks.
WEAR SUN SCREEN!!!
I didn't and my head burned and washing my hair in the shower felt like someone was drilling right into my head.
The best advice I can give is HAVE FUN
Don't let the small things bother you, don't get frustrated. Afterall you have saved up for this vacation and it is a VACATION from all your stress and worries back home. Be kind to your family and have a magical experience as we did.
Secret to Free photopass pics............
ok this isn't that hard to figure out so i feel silly even telling you this as I'm sure alot of you have stumbled across this. I'm sure everyone has tried to right click on the picture and try to save it but you get a popup saying "Right click is disabled"
All you have to do is hit printscreen when the picture is on the page then open MS Paint and Click Edit and then Paste and the whole page is on the screen. Then click on the select icon on the left and stretch the window around the picture. Click edit and cut and the picture will be on the clipboard, open a new paint window and click edit and paste. The picture will be there. You may have to trim it down more depending on how well you did cutting out the picture initially. You can then save the file as a jpeg, gif or bitmap, whatever you want.
Hope that helps someone!!
M-I-C talk to ya all real soon
K-E-Y why? because I love disboards
M-O-U-S-E
.
but totally forgot about Bear. Next time we'll see it though for sure thanks to that photo! 
I knew, of course, that we'd be on a downer but I was totally unprepared for the sheer trauma almost of trying to adjust to being back home. Which is probably why we're going back (despite our certainly that our trip last year was a one-off). Going back again is probably not the most financially responsible thing we've ever done. 
But, it's a strong force drawing us to it.... we'll be at BWV too in a 1bdr. Your place looked gorgeous!!! Wow! 
